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Religion During the Enlightenment, towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, freedom of religion increased in Sweden, but it was not until 1951 that full freedom of religion was legally guaranteed. Today, everyone has the right to belong or not to belong to a church or religious body, whether of Christian or non-Christian denomination. Only the monarch and the minister responsible for ecclesiastical affairs are to belong to the Church of Sweden. Children automatically become members of the Church of Sweden at birth, provided at least one of the parents is a member and does not renounce membership on behalf of the child within six weeks. A poll, published in 1988, indicated that 9% considered themselves professing Christians, 64% describe themselves as Christian in their own way, 26% did not consider themselves Christian, and 2% refused to answer. There are today about 16,000 Jews in Sweden, of whom 8,700 are members of a congregation. The number of Muslims has grown rapidly after World War II, and now amounts to about 130,000, of whom some 60,000 are members of a congregation. Most are immigrants from Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa. There are around 3,000 Buddhists in Sweden and about the same number of Hindus. |
![]() In Stockholm. Photo: Halldór Jónsson. |
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